


With or Without

by akelios



Category: Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Dresden Files Kink Meme, Kink Meme, M/M, Obliviousness, preslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-29
Updated: 2011-04-29
Packaged: 2017-11-03 10:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/380550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akelios/pseuds/akelios
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I thought we'd talked about you stalking me, Marcone."</p><p>"It's not stalking if I happen to be having dinner in a restaurant when you run by being chased by a monster movie reject. Coincidence at its worst."</p><p>"Stalker." I singsonged it under my breath. Cujo huffed but didn't say anything. "Well, job done here and all. If you could tell your moose to let me go? I'll be on my way."</p>
            </blockquote>





	With or Without

I felt the last of the power burn out of me, saw the spell hit the giant lizard form the demon had taken and kill it. It was a lot of power; all of it, truth be told. I still had my own personal core of magic, I hadn't thrown a death curse or anything, but I was tapped out otherwise. The adrenaline left me in a rush as the Godzilla wanna be collapsed and started dissolving into ectoplasm. I'd already dealt with the summoner, so there was no chance of the thing coming back for a good while. Which was good, since my vision was going a little fuzzy around the edges and I couldn't quite feel anything.

A convulsive shiver shot through me and even though I couldn't feel them, I knew my legs had given out. I braced myself for impact against the sidewalk as best I could, but I never quite made it. Arms caught me, warm against my exhaustion and I let myself slump in them for a second before my instincts kicked back in. I got my hands on the arm around my chest and tried to push it away, to pry myself out of the grip.

"Cut it out, you moron." Cujo. Knowing it was him didn't make me stop trying to get away. It just made it a little less imperative. He wasn't there to kill me. Just help his boss take advantage of me in a moment of weakness.

"If Mr. Dresden wishes to fall flat on his face, Mr. Hendricks, that is his prerogative." Hendricks grunted at Marcone's voice but didn't let me go. He got me to my feet, against my wishes, and I sort of hung there. It was weird to be completely supported with no effort at all. Not the sort of thing that happens to someone nearly seven feet tall. My eyesight was still fuzzy, but I forced myself to focus on the man walking up to us.

Marcone. He hadn't changed in the years that I'd known him. He had to be on the far side of forty, but he still looked fit. A few lines helped define his face, battle scars more than age marks and his hair had kept the same mix of dark black with a smattering of gray around the temples. Dignified but not hinting at any weakness of age. I scowled at him and he returned a small smile.

"I thought we'd talked about you stalking me, Marcone."

"It's not stalking if I happen to be having dinner in a restaurant when you run by being chased by a monster movie reject. Coincidence at its worst."

"Stalker." I singsonged it under my breath. Cujo huffed but didn't say anything. "Well, job done here and all. If you could tell your moose to let me go? I'll be on my way."

"Mr. Hendricks, if you would let Harry go?" Cujo did, really rather gently, and I stayed upright for about two seconds. The worst part of the second collapse was that not only did it happen in front of Marcone but that the asshole caught me. He was strong, shorter than me but all hard muscle. And not bodybuilder, show-off muscle. Marcone was built for elegance in function.

"'M fine." It wasn't my most convincing moment, seeing as how I was mumbling it into Marcone's shoulder, but I pushed back from him anyway. He let me go and I stayed upright this time. "Just a little woozy, but no damage done." I started to walk, carefully and slowly, back toward where I'd left the _Beetle_.

"At least let me give you a ride back to your vehicle, Harry. We're several blocks away from it."

"Don't call me Harry!" I called over my shoulder and kept going.

~

What do you do when you're a temporarily powerless wizard?

Pretty much the same things you do when you're powered up. Only you do them more carefully and without drawing attention to the fact that you're out of juice. I'd drained myself pretty badly, but it would only take maybe a week for me to get back up to full power if I rested and did things to make myself happy.

So I'd probably be up to full power in two or three weeks. What? My life is not conducive to rest and relaxation.

I headed into the office the next day and spent the morning catching up on paperwork. There was always way too much paperwork involved in being a private investigator. I had not been informed of this prior to making my career choice. They never show the gumshoe writing up a report the morning after. No...he's always climbing out of the bed of the lovely femme fatale he saved the night before. It's a good thing I didn't pick this job for the dating opportunities.

Marcone, true to his stalker style, showed up around noon. Just in time to try and feed me. Here's a little secret. I'm not as thick as most people think I am. Just because I don't acknowledge some things doesn't mean I'm unaware of them.

One thing that will always be true about John Marcone is that he doesn't give up. He just changes tactics. I've been rejecting his offers/threats to work for him since I met him. At some point he accepted that outright force wasn't going to get the job done, so he moved on to a slightly more subtle method. Sort of showing me the advantages of working with him. The backup, the information network, all of that. Trying to wedge himself into my life by virtue of just already being there all the time.

I'll admit to finding it both amusing and flattering. I know that his only interest in me is for my magic, for the power I represent, but still. It's nice to be wanted.

"No." I met Marcone's eyes and made a shooing motion at him. "I'm busy and I'm still not going to go out to eat with you." As I said it I did the same thing I'd been doing for a year when he stopped by with offers of food. I pushed a little bit of force at him. Nothing strong, just enough to knock him back a step. It'd become a kind of habit, and I didn't think about it. Not until absolutely nothing happened. Shit. Way to keep the secret, Harry. A thread of something masquerading as concern flickered through Marcone's eyes and then they were closed to me again, hard chips of green marble.

"Is there something you wish to tell me, Harry?"

"Not particularly." I kicked back in my chair and tried to be nonchalant. "I really am busy here, John. Maybe you could go hold up a play group for their candy or something?"

"Never children, remember?" I couldn't see the thoughts working their way through his mind, but I could guess at them. Marcone was nothing like slow. "You've burnt yourself out." I had two options: tell the truth, or try to bluff my way through it. Instinct told me to bluff. You never let anyone know that you're weak. But another thought cropped up. If Marcone thought I was powerless, he would have no use for me. Which meant he'd go away. The fleeting image of days, of weeks, without finding Marcone every time I turned around danced before my eyes.

"Yes. Poof. Magic all gone. It'll come back, but I need plenty of rest. No annoyances, you know?" His eyes narrowed and then he tilted his head slightly.

"I see." He let himself out without another word. I stared at the door for a second, a huge grin making my cheeks ache. He was gone! I resisted the urge to do a little happy dance, but just barely. Peace and quiet were mine at last!

~

I narrowed my eyes at the black sedan blocking the _Beetle_ into its space in my gravel lot. It neither spontaneously combusted nor moved out of my way, so I stomped over to it. Mouse followed along gamely, panting in a happy rhythm. He liked cars and he liked getting to look at new ones. I was considering getting him a subscription to _Car & Driver_ or maybe _Popular Mechanics_.

The front passenger window rolled down and one of the guys I'd seen with Cujo before stuck his head out.

"Can I help you, Mr. Dresden?"

"Yeah. You can get your ass out of the way of my car. I need to get to work."

"Oh. Of course." The window powered back up. Or it powered about half-way back up and then there was a high, screeching whine. A faint sizzling sound reached my ears and the window froze. Nameless goon looked at it, looked at me and then turned to the driver. The car started up and Mouse and I stood aside so they could back up.

I got into the _Beetle_ and looked at the sedan in my rearview. They pulled out and followed me, fairly obviously. I guess if you don't care that the person you're tailing knows that you're tailing them, what's the point of trying to be sneaky about it? Mouse gave me a puzzled look as I ground my teeth.

That day set the pattern for the rest of the week. The guys didn't block the Beetle in again, but they were always there, following me. Marcone called at least once a day. I hung up on him every time. I probably should have taken the chance to yell at him and tell him to get his flunkies out of my ass, but that would have involved speaking to him. Which I was not doing. I was also not speaking to him when he showed up at my office, or called the apartment. My imagined time of peace and mobster free life had vanished quickly.

The deliveries were just as bad. First there was the takeout that I didn't order. Not pizza, either, but real, honest to goodness food. With vegetables and everything. Then there were the boxes and puzzled employees from the local occult shops. They came with basic ingredients, with things that I needed to restock my supplies. Though how the hell he knew what I needed was beyond me. I was sure he didn't have anything planted in my place. The guy doing the planting wouldn't have survived trying to break in.

I didn't get it. It made no sense. Yeah, I expected that Marcone would start being a pain in my ass again as soon as my power came back on line, but he'd never actually stopped. He'd gotten worse. And that just didn't make any sense. I didn't have anything for him, anything that he could use. I was, as far as Marcone and his plans for domestic domination were concerned, useless until further notice. I'd talked to Bob about the possibility of a spell - something that had made Marcone go off his rocker. After I'd laid the problem out, Bob had actually rolled his skull off the shelf so he could roll around on the floor and laugh at me. He refused to explain, only saying that I was an adult and I wouldn't learn if he just gave me all the answers.

I'd ordered him to go check Marcone out anyway. He'd come up with nothing.

I made it through the week to the next Monday. I'd even sort of gotten used to the mob flunkies. They didn't talk, they didn't do much of anything. Kind of like having pet rocks. The last straw was walking into Mac's to find Marcone seated at my table, two dinners set. I could feel the muscles in my cheek twitching. He was more involved in my life than when I'd had the magic he wanted!

"Get out. Go away. Be elsewhere. I could try to say it in Latin, if that would help?"

"Good evening, Harry."

"Don't call me Harry!" He slid an empty chair out, nudging it with his foot.

"Have a seat. Please."

"No!" I kicked the chair, a mistake since Mac made his furniture out of really nice, heavy wood, and limped over to the bar. Mac slid a to go bag across the counter to me and I grabbed it up, slapping my money down as I turned on my heel and stormed out.

I wasn't back to full power but I had enough that when I went and leaned on the Flunkymobile and growled out a rough 'hexus', the softly rumbling engine gave a surprised splutter, coughed, and then died. The flunkies opened their doors to frown at me. I waved and jumped into the _Beetle_.

Thomas' salon was still open but there were only a few people there and Thomas himself was free. I caught his eye as I made my way through the front, past the hair dresser's stations and on into the back to his office. He came in a few minutes later.

"What's up?" Thomas flopped into his own chair, sending papers and some food wrappers flying. It was comforting, the mess. Normal. My brother, the gorgeous slob. I finished my bite and set the rest of the sandwich down. Chances were good the mess was going to come to life and eat it, but that was the price I paid for wanting to talk.

"Marcone. He's driving me up a fucking wall!" I flicked my finger at one teetering pile of forms. They swayed but didn't quite topple over. "I can't get away from him. I thought I'd have a little peace and quiet, but noooo... he's everywhere!"

"Uh-huh. I think...do you really want to hear what I think?"

"Of course. That's why I'm here. Sounding board. Bob's been spectacularly unhelpful and I'm not about to whine to Murphy about Marcone. She'd either try to arrest him or tell me it's my own fault for consorting with him in the first place."

"Yeah. Funny choice of words, 'consorting'. See...Marcone likes you. No, no, let me rephrase that." Thomas leaned forward, elbows on the desk and looked me straight in the eyes. "Marcone would like to fight a monster with you, take you out to a nice, romantic dinner afterward while you still smelled faintly of smoke and flame, then fuck you over his desk. And then again, later, in his bed. While he holds you down and makes you beg for it."

I choked on air and spluttered, coughing and feeling my face turn bright red. From lack of air. Really. Thomas came around the desk and slapped me on the back. I don't know why. I wasn't really choking so all he did was give me a new bruise.

"Did you hit your fucking head? Or maybe someone slipped you some crack? The only thing Marcone wants with me is to put a collar on me and make me his pet wizard."

"I'll grant you the collar, but it's not all about the magic, Harry. He just wants you. Trust me. I know lust."

"You- I-"

"Which one of us is the sex vampire? Me. That's right. I know about this stuff." He sat on the edge of his desk. "Look, try this. Show Marcone you're interested in him. You are, you know. Interested." I opened my mouth and then closed it again. Thomas was obviously delusional. Arguing with him wouldn't do any good. "If he's not interested back, no harm no foul. You might even drive him off. But if he is interested, and he is, then you know. And you can finally do something about it and stop wafting unresolved sexual tension all over me."

~

I had no intention of listening to Thomas' 'advice'. I had every intention of forgetting about it and never, ever bringing it up again. But my subconscious, who is an asshole, had other plans. My dreams, every night since I'd seen Thomas were...they were filled with Marcone. And not the old dream, the one where Marcone drugged me and locked me up in a tiny cell beneath his mansion until I broke. No, these were dreams of muscle beneath my hands, a warm mouth against my throat, my jaw. Heavy, rhythmic breathing against my shoulder, the press of weight against my back, hands on my spine, my thighs, pulling them apart. The hard brush of him against my inner thigh. Others where I knelt beneath Marcone's desk, where I had him in my hands, my mouth brushing against him, teasing. His fingers white, digging into the wood of the desk, the arms of his chair as he fought not to make a sound.

The dreams left me hard, shaking and sweating. And cursing Thomas' name. It wasn't that I didn't know I liked men, it was just that....hells bells. It was Marcone. I'd have rather found out I wanted to fuck Kincaid. At least there I might have a chance of coming out of it with my balls intact.

I tried to push them away, but nothing worked. I was distracted, half sleep walking through my life. Which was a good way to get myself killed. I needed to do something. Ignoring the problem wasn't working. That left me with one option. So what the hell.

I'd had my magic back for nearly two weeks by the time I worked myself up to it. I wasn't quite at full strength, but I had more than enough power to protect myself if things went south. Which they would.

Marcone was on time for his daily 'annoy Harry' appointment. I waited until he had closed the door and then I walked up to him, getting right into his personal space. There was the seconds hesitation, where I could see him tense, his hands shifting, getting nearer to whatever weapons he had. I didn't hesitate. If I did, I wouldn't be able to go through with it.

I planted one hand on his shoulder and brought the other up, hovering over the faintly rough skin of his cheek. The kiss wasn't my best. I was nervous, my lips dry, throat tight. My magic tingled across my skin, the shield ready to go up if I felt him tense to go for a knife.

He didn't. His shoulders were tense for a few seconds, but just as I was about to give up the tension changed, flowed into something else, something eager. His hands grabbed at me, one against the back of my neck, fingers cradling my head, trapping me in the kiss, the other grabbing hard at my hip, dragging us together until I could feel him. Feel him growing hard against my thigh. I closed my eyes and let go of the magic. It wasn't what we needed. Not right now.


End file.
